Ends of Magic

Chapter 24: A Lair of Ash and Venom

They found Nornan the next day standing atop a barren yellow hill, looking out over the valley with a concerned expression. He had definitely heard the Heirs were coming, but when they crested the hill and approached he turned theatrically, face splitting in a wide smile.

If Id known I would be greeting the Heirs, I would have stayed in Tarren and spent some time with my grandparents. Are you just stopping by on your way to a true Ghouls lair?

Nathan stepped up, clasping Nornans forearm and appreciating the way the sun illuminated the mans blonde locks as they blew in the breeze. Just in the area and heard you needed a hand. Is that the problem we need to kill? He indicated the cave across the valley, which was blocked by a crumbling wall the same shade as the sepia rocks around it. A tall tower reached up from the cliff above the cave, standing with a sinuous curve that marked it as a Skilias dominion construction.

The Adventurer nodded, releasing Nathans hand and shading his eyes to look across the valley. Indeed so! That dragons maw is our Lair. Theres been a broodmother emerging every couple of days for the past week, so the Matriarchs been fed. Weve been hunting down the broodmothers and any of the adders that emerge, but our luck will only hold out so long. Ucric was splashed with some venom the day before last. His furll grow back - but it could have been much worse. Nornans brows had drawn down, his expression worried.

Nathan clapped him on the shoulder. Well, lets deal with this, and it wont be an issue so much. Youve been hunting these serpents for a while, yeah?

Yeah. The ashbloods are a plague down here in the South. I would give a grand Insight to know if weve gotten all of the broodmothers. All they need is water, meat and time to become a Matriarch. Id rather we dont have any of those near the villages. This one and its spawn have already killed more n a dozen villagers. Nornans countenance grew stony, and he gave a high, piercing whistle before beginning to pick his way down the steep slope. We just want them gone. Dont care about the loot. Split the bounty, though.

Nathan cast a look back at the Heirs, and Aarl nodded and gestured for him to lead the way. They maneuvered down the steep scree, carefully picking their way down the long slope to the base of the valley, where they met with the rest of the Dusteaters.

Nornan and his team had all grown up in the village of Cromer, and were well-adapted to the region. They were sure-footed on the rough terrain, moving deceptively quickly across ankle-breaking rocks. The Dusteaters all blended into the landscape, with khaki-like clothes for the two humans and similar fur for the two catfolk. The fur of the larger of the two catfolk - Ucric - was blackened all along his side, where it looked like hed been spattered by droplets of flaming liquid.

Nathan already knew the Dusteaters, having talked to Nornan and the others a few times during Sudraiels Adventurer training course. The rest of the Heirs hadnt though, so Nathan introduced them around. The other human was named Lam Gaven, and he was shorter and slighter than Nornans muscularity. The two catfolk were Ucric and Inarl, siblings whose enhanced senses were invaluable to the kind of hunting missions the Dusteaters usually took on.

All of the Dusteaters carried compound bows and quivers, along with spears and long knives that looked more like backup weapons. However, Nathan was only able to spot one dimensional pouch among their gear, slung alongside Ucrics quiver. They looked like they could rain arrows upon their quarry, taking advantage of the rough terrain and their familiarity with it to make any necessary escape.

It was not a tactic that was particularly well-suited to dig monsters from their lair, but it was a way for them to be Adventurers without weighty Insights or heavily enchanted gear. Nathan would be shocked if they werent saving all of their pay to buy enchanted weapons, and were hoping to acquire Insights by being part of Adventurer society.

I should inquire about that after this. There arent a ton of Insights I can share that will do much good. Maybe the dodging one? But I doubt theyve got many open slots - they probably need every advantage they can get.

The Heirs and Dusteaters together inspected the stone wall that blocked the cave. It wasnt small - the cave opening was a hundred feet tall and two hundred feet across, and the wall blocked the bottom third of it. Curved and spired buildings were visible behind, receding into the gloom of the cave.

The wall was visibly crumbling, with great gashes torn through some sections, though the breaches were choked with rubble. The only easy path was the gate - which was half-blocked with rubble but still passable.

Do we have any information on the Dungeons or the ashblood cobra nest? Without any, I would proceed through the front gate. Khachi looked over at the Dusteaters, his expression inquisitive.

Nornan looked at the gate. This was an active Dungeon many years ago - home to a hive of parasitic wasps that could puppet beasts and people. They were the projects of some mage-lord, and the stasis chamber failed. It was cleared twenty years back by three teams, all of the experiments destroyed, then re-checked a few years after that. Its been quiet since then. He and the rest of the Adventurers paused to reflect that while they were fighting enormous snakes, at least it wasnt clouds of parasitic wasps.

The blonde adventurer continued. The cobras have been emerging from the main gate, and when I peeked inside they seem to come from deeper in the ruin. It should be easy to backtrack them since theyve cleared a path through the rubble. A quick look didnt reveal the water source that theyre spawning from, and the report summary didnt mention anything about a water source. I have no idea where it is.

Nathan shrugged, catching Khachis eye and giving commands to see if the cleric would disagree. Lets go in the front. Quiet and careful, well hold off on magical light until we need it. Ill be in front, with Aarl and Khachi behind. Sarah and Stella in the middle, Dusteaters watching the rear. Well rely on Stella to block any sprayed venom, then well hold as Sarah and the Dusteaters take down the snake. Ill try to bait strikes, Khachi will block and pin, and Sarah and Aarl to kill. Go for the heads. Dusteaters should strike to blind and pin. Sounds good?

Khachi and the other Heirs nodded confidently, and the Dusteaters decided to go along with the plan. Nathan caught his spear when Aarl tossed it to him, and without further ado the two teams of Adventurers crept into the ruined town. There was still a lot of light leaking into the massive cavern from the opening, but they paused to let their eyes adjust after the brightness of unobstructed sun.

Nornan had been right - the path of the serpents was clear. The main road was choked with rubble, some of it obviously from fallen buildings and the torn-up road, the rest was more mysterious in origin. Regardless, a clear path about fifteen feet wide snaked through the rubble and clearly marked the path the serpents took in and out of the ruin.

They moved forward carefully, checking every angle for possible ambush. Stella was holding a force spell half-cast and ready to deploy, while the Dusteaters had arrows nocked. Sarah had her rifle out, under the assumption that penetration would be important against such large targets. Aarl had the shotgun in one hand, the force-saber in the other. The Dusteaters had given the twins weapons curious looks, but refrained from commenting in the tense atmosphere.

The Adventurers proceeded into the ruins for a little while, following the path. It snaked off of the main road at one point where a building had toppled and blocked the entire path, and they paused to get some light going. Stella set a pair of glowing orbs above her shoulders, while Khachis shield started radiating a warm light.

The next street was more claustrophobic, and they followed the path as it went into a building. Everybody tensed as they crept through the enclosed space, expecting to come face-to-face with a giant snake any moment. Nathan was keeping his nose, eyes and ears peeled, but nothing was jumping out to him beyond a faint smell of mildew and a musky oil.

Nathan emerged into a new street, this one less choked with rubble. He relaxed slightly once free from the claustrophobic rubble. However, the relief was short-lived as a loud hiss suddenly filled the street. Nathan jerked his head around, quickly finding the source of the sound. There was a giant blue-black snake atop the building theyd just emerged from. Nathan called out a wordless warning and dove to the side as it fired a spray of flaming poison at him.

The venom splashed into the street, flaring up in a sudden burst of heat. More than a few droplets spattered Nathan, but wherever they touched skin he drained the fire mana out. Any poison that made its way into his veins was quickly neutralized. Khachi hadnt fully left the building, and hed set his shield in time to catch the backspatter of the adders spray.

The giant snake followed up the spray by sinuously twisting its way down the building, seemingly not having noticed the other Adventurers in the building underneath. Nathan hurdled a pile of rubble and dropped into a slide to dodge under a snap of meter-long fangs, easily coming to his feet.

Mid-tier Tumbling 5 achieved!

Then Khachis hammer came down on the snakes spine just behind the head like a piledriver, slamming it to the street with a flash of golden light. Something crunched, and the snakes head flailed. The cleric raised the hammer a second time, bringing his other hand up to caress the haft in a quick motion. The weapon left behind a glowing trail as the cleric slammed it down once more, crushing the snakes broad skull in right above its eyes.

Hissing blood splattered from the blow, letting out a noxious smoke as it burned bright enough to dazzle the eye and ate small holes into the stone of the street. The caustic liquid evaporated from Khachis armor without leaving a trace, and Nathans clothes took another beating before he was able to smother the flames with his hands.

Im glad thats a magical acid. Otherwise I would be complaining about how real acid doesnt dissolve things that quickly. Fun that I can bathe in their blood and regain stamina.

Stamina: 820/820

Nathan let out a tense breath, lowering the spear from where hed been about to plant it in the snakes mouth. The long body of the snake slumped to the street, and the rest of the Adventurers climbed over it to make it out into the street.

Inarl shot Nathan a doubtful look. You dying?

He smirked at the catfolk. Nope. Lets go. Weve lost the element of surprise, lets move before they can settle into an ambush.

They regrouped and moved quickly, following the path deeper into the dark town. Nathan picked up the sounds of rubble shifting as heavy bodies moved around ahead. He quickened his pace, and the two teams sped up to keep up, reducing caution in favor of giving their foes less time to prepare.

Ahead the street let out onto a larger square, with blind corners on both sides. Nathan held up a fist and stopped his dash as he approached, then turned his head to snap out a plan. Ill charge forward, set off any ambush. Follow up behind me, dont overextend. Stella will save me if I get in a tough spot.

He saw a few nods of confirmation and turned forwards, preparing to rush into the square. He didnt want to get penned into this street, and the best way to prevent that would be for him to break through the ambush. But there was almost certainly at least one snake waiting ahead, from what Nathan had heard. And it was going to strike him as soon as he stepped out into that square.

I can probably survive getting bit, but being swallowed would just be inconvenient. it's as big as a bowling alley. Just the impact is going to break bones. The ideal solution is to dodge. My reactions are faster now, but I'll need to see it and react faster than I ever have before. It's going to be hidden, and I need to spot it as fast as I can.

Nathan unfocused his eyes, concentrating on picking up movement in his peripheral vision and priming himself to dodge away from it without conscious thought. He took one deep breath and set his jaw, listening for the faintest of sounds.

Im going to dodge this. I need to pay attention and move without conscious thought. Let my body react to what my [Notice] skill gives me before I consciously process it.

Nathan launched himself forward, digging the balls of his feet into the street and leveraging his skills and enhanced musculature to reach Olympian sprinter speeds in only a few steps. He was easily psyched up enough to activate his Rage, further propelling him forward.

Aw yeah lets do this!

He shot out of the street and into the square, catching bare flashes of scaled movement from both. Without thinking, Nathan twisted his body to the left and then threw himself into a sideways roll, pulling himself to the ground with [Slow Fall].

Congratulations, you have developed the [Mid-tier Notice] utility skill into [High-tier Notice].

Utility skill: [High-Tier Notice]

This skill will help you notice details. Especially useful for rapidly detecting concealed enemies, magical effects and triggers.

Mid-tier Dodging Footwork 8 achieved!

A pair of onrushing jaws smashed into Nathan from the right, sending him tumbling away. Hed moved enough that they hadnt impaled him on the fangs or swallowed him whole. Nathan bounced painfully off the rough stone of the square, dropping his spear and pushing off with his hands so that he would roll to a crouch.

I really dont need that thing. Its basically a toothpick to these things. Im bait, not a finisher.

The ashblood cobra that had almost eaten him was significantly larger than the last snake, easily capable of swallowing him whole. It was also marked with a more elaborate purple-and-green pattern instead of the simple blue markings of the last snake.

Broodmother.

Another flash of movement caught Nathans attention, and he leapt almost a dozen feet into the air. The second snakes strike still clipped his leg, and a fang tore a flap of flesh from his right shin.

Nathan was sent flipping in midair, but stuck out his legs to slow the fall, then yanked himself downwards with [Slow Fall] to slam his feet into the crown of the second snakes head. His leg burned with internal fire and poison, but a moments attention neutralized the poison and extinguished the magic before the wound sealed on its own.

Mid-tier Tumbling 6 achieved!

Then an arrow slammed into the snakes eye and Nathan was sent flying high into the air as it flailed backwards. A third snake reared up from a crater in the middle of the square and drew a bead on Nathan. He once more jerked himself downwards to dodge the spray of flaming poison before slowing his fall and landing only twenty feet from this latest snake.

High-tier Slow Fall 6 achieved!

There was a cacophony of sound from the direction of the Heirs, but Nathan was too busy to watch as the snake slithered out of the pit it had been hiding in. Nathan tried to dodge away, but the serpent was fast, and encircled him in a black-blue wall of tough scales in just a moment.

Man, Im really wishing I had my spear about now.

The coil started constricting, and Nathan looked around for an exit. He leapt for the lowest part of the encircling coils, fingers scrabbling against oily scales. He failed to get a handhold, slipping back down into the steadily constricting space.

Then one side of its face lit up with a blue-green light brighter than the sun. The ashblood cobra let out a scream that shook Nathans bones as its eye popped with a flash of superheated steam. Scales flaked off and it flinched and retreated away from the light, which cut out a second later.

Nathans [Magic Absorption] had protected him from the extraordinary brightness of the light, but as he tried to take advantage of the snakes distraction to escape, its flailing tail bashed into him from behind. Nathan landed on his back outside the coils, quickly rolling to his feet as it retreated back into the crater in the middle of the square.

So he had a perfect view to see another snake slither down the buildings behind his friends. Nobody was watching the rear, and they had all been somewhat dazzled by Stellas laser-spell. The enormous purple-and-green snake - the broodmother from earlier - had fallen with a hole all the way through its skull, and another snake was dangling dead from the adjacent building, arrows in each eye and the front of its face bisected by a sharp blade.

Khachi was just blocking a badly-aimed spray of venom from the snake that Nathan had stomped on. The buildings around the Heirs were spotted with flaming venom that Stella must have deflected with force shields. But none of them saw the snake behind them.

No! Somebody turn around!

Nathan yelled a warning. Behind! But he was across the square, and it was hard to hear over the hissing of blood dissolving stone all around. Stella looked towards him but didnt have time to parse his gesture. Nobody was looking backwards. The snake in the blind spot opened its mouth wide and lunged forward, fangs penetrating Nornans back and snapping closed around his upper body. Then it jerked its head sideways and threw him into one of the ruined buildings before rearing back for another strike.

Damn it all!

Aarl spun on his heel, hands flickering towards his belt as everybody else was just turning their heads, confused. Nathan willed himself to run faster, blurring across the battlefield. But hed been thrown too far to make it in time.

The snake struck, and was met by a shotgun blast. The large shot penetrated right through the roof of the snakes mouth and into its brain. The snakes head still slammed into the road in the middle of the Heirs. Flaming blood gushed forth and started eating through the street, forcing them to scatter.

But there was one more snake standing, with an arrow standing out from one eye. Khachi had turned to address the new threat, and it reared backwards to strike at his back. Nathan put every ounce of his Rage into his leap, punching the snake in the jaw with his full body weight just before it was about to strike.

Mid-tier Sprinting 9 achieved!

The blow rocked the huge snakes head sideways, and it halted the strike to twist towards Nathan. That motion was also aborted as it was struck by a lightning bolt, causing the cobras head to twitch and jerk for a moment. Nathan skittered away from flailing fangs longer than his legs.

The Dusteaters' furious snarls were loud, and arrows flew at the wounded snake. One lodged in the other eye, and when the snake screamed two more hit it in the roof of the mouth, driving up into the brain and causing the rearing trunk of scales and muscle to crash to the ground.

Nathan spun, pointing to where the last ashblood cobra was peering over the lip of the crater at them. One more!

Got it. Sarahs voice was calm and clear from the pile of rubble shed climbed to get away from the corrosive blood. Her rifle spoke, and with a spray of flaming viscera the last serpent dropped back into the pit like a puppet with its strings cut.

Then everything was quiet as the Adventurers looked around for any more enemies. But there were only five dead ashblood cobras, the smallest of which was fifty feet long.

Skill comparison:

[Mid-Tier Notice]

This skill will help you notice details. Especially useful for detecting concealed magical effects and triggers.

[High-Tier Notice]

This skill will help you notice details. Especially useful for detecting concealed enemies, magical effects and triggers.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Magic Absorption 8

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 3

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 6

Class: Spellbreaker Juggernaut level 72

Stamina: 446/820

Juggernaut's Wrath

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Juggernaut's Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 1

High-tier Earnestness 7

Mid-tier Sprinting 9

High-tier Spellsense 5

High-tier Notice 1

Mid-tier Identify 8

Mid-tier Dodging Footwork 8

High-tier Enhanced Memory 6

Mid-tier Lecturing 7

Mid-tier Tumbling 6